There are some people out there who simply don't like Coheed. Maybe it's Claudio's high-pitched singing, maybe it's his huge frizzy hair, but something about the band turns them off. Other people are obsessed with the band. These people tend to love pretty much everything the band releases, and these are the same people who have religiously read the comics that tell the story of the music.
On the other hand, I fall in between these two extremes. I think Coheed is a great band. In fact, I think that if history is fair, they would be regarded in the future as one of the premier bands of this era, much the same way that classic bands from the 60's and 70's are thought of now. I particularly liked Coheed's second and third albums, but I think their first exhibited "Debut Syndrome" where a band hasn't quite reached its potential, and their fourth release exhibits "Mid-Career Rush-To-Release Syndrome", where a talented and successful band pushes a release out the door without taking the time to make sure it's up to the standard of their previous releases.
Year of the Black Rainbow, however, is everything I've ever wanted in a Coheed album, for the following reasons:
1) FOCUS: A fair criticism of the band's past releases is that they lack focus. Sure, there is a cohesive story, but I'm not talking about that. What I mean is, everything from album titles, song titles, song lengths, and consistency indicate that the band tries to do too much. Compare the two Good Apollo volumes (for example, the first had a title with 15 words in it, and the second had a 5-song way-too-drawn-out closing epic), versus YOTBR. The album title, song titles, and song lengths on YOTBR are symbolic of the new focus of the band. Sure, you might say "Who cares about titles? And isn't it good when a band stretches out and frees itself of the conventions of radio-length songs?" To that, I say sure, titles don't matter much, but they can be symbolic of the band's approach to the underlying music, and "stretching out" can be great but only if it's done well, and Coheed has been guilty of doing it poorly in the past.
2) MELODIES: Melody in music is a funny thing. I like certain melodies, and I dislike others, and it's hard to explain why. On YOTBR, nevertheless, there are TONS of great melodies. Specifically, Claudio's vocals are very catchy and melodic throughout the album, and that makes it an addictive listen. Just the simple fact that there is so much melody on the album is great by itself; Coheed can be described as a metal band, although they certainly are a multi-genre band, and a lot of metal is often terrible because of its lack of melody.
3) DRUMS: As I get older, it takes more for music to keep my attention. I look more and more for technical proficiency, even though the most important quality in music, in my opinion, is good songwriting, which generally has pretty much nothing to do with technical proficiency. Finally, Coheed is moving towards combining the best of both worlds. They've always had great guitar work, a trend that continues on this album, but drumming has IMHO been weak up until now. Enter Chris Pennie. YOTBR is his first album with Coheed, and the guy is a freakin' virtuoso. I love his work on this album and can't wait to hear what he does on future Coheed albums. He was an excellent addition to the band and gives them exactly the kind of rhythm-section power they needed, much in the same way that Keith Moon and John Bonham made their bands exponentially better than they otherwise would have been. Just listen to Pennie's work on Guns of Summer and prepare for your mind to be blown.
BOTTOM LINE: If you have never liked a Coheed album, chances are you won't like this one either. But if you have liked anything they have done in the past, or if you have never heard any of their music, you need to give this album a chance. Also, VERY IMPORTANT: when I first listened to this album, I was disappointed. As I listened to it more, I realized that it truly is a masterpiece. If you don't like it at first, be patient with it, give it multiple listens, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed in the end.